I haven't actually been to London so far this year, not since last christmas, so this was a super exciting trip for me, I got excited as soon as I saw the fourth plinth. (Although I don't think the Gift Horse is currently that exceptional. The blue chicken (or cockerel/bird thing) was much more exciting). I even did an open top bus tour and found out where the queen buys her knickers, and a river cruise with a very cockney commentator on the Thames, (oh yessss, in the words of churchill, you've got that to look forward to in extended practice).
I'd previously been the art gallery in Edinburgh and was vastly impressed by the landscape artwork, the sheer vastness of the Loch's and Scottish Countryside. Even though it didn't sway too much from ours it still felt like a massive honour to be in the presence of them, so I was overflowing with excitement walking through trafalgar square! But as I come to write up about my time at the exhibition, I actually just felt like a startled little dear overwhelmed by so many paintings, I don't even have a favourite. I feel like a disgrace to the painting art world. In my defence in the masterpieces collection there is over 2,300 pieces of work.
The Fighting Temeraire - Joseph Mallord William Turner 1839.
I was really pleased to finally see a William Turner in person. But I don't think it was everything it had been built up to be. A little disappointing if anything. The National Gallery Building itself is more spectacular, it looks a bit like that Matte from the Hitchcock Film I had in my presentation at the start of the module across with the matte of Citizen Kane.
What I really like about the national gallery website is how far you can zoom into the work and see the brushstrokes. I get why people go to the gallery to replicate work.
The 98-gun ship 'Temeraire' played a distinguished role in Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, after which she was known as the 'Fighting Temeraire'. The ship remained in service until 1838 when she was decommissioned and towed from Sheerness to Rotherhithe to be broken up.
The painting was thought to represent the decline of Britain's naval power. The 'Temeraire' is shown travelling east, away from the sunset, even though Rotherhithe is west of Sheerness, but Turner's main concern was to evoke a sense of loss, rather than to give an exact recording of the event. The spectacularly colourful setting of the sun draws a parallel with the passing of the old warship. By contrast the new steam-powered tug is smaller and more prosaic.
Turner was in his sixties when he painted 'The Fighting Temeraire'. It shows his mastery of painting techniques to suggest sea and sky. Paint laid on thickly is used to render the sun's rays striking the clouds. By contrast, the ship's rigging is meticulously painted.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visions-of-paradise
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/?gclid=CMbFnqadwMkCFQw8GwodrIUDfw
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